Pickled Okra

On the way home from Florida, I bought some beautiful fresh okra, emerald green and crisp, and some were the perfect size to make pickled okra.

Never pickled your own okra? It's one of the easiest to do!

You'll need:

•About 2 dozen okra pods the height of your jars, packed tight into two clean, sterilized wide-mouthed jars (I do my jars and rings in the dishwasher, then I boil the flat lids in water for 5 minutes. You can reuse jars and rings, but not the flat lids.) Wide mouth jars work best, and this time of year, you can find the lids and rings cheaply at the store (but I always keep them on hand). Be sure to use canning jars, not old glass -- the hot vinegar could burst them. These are easy to find at garage sales, but I also have a few on hand.
•Four garlic cloves for each jar and three hot red dried peppers for each jar.
•A bottle of cider vinegar (the cheap kind will do); make sure it's a clear or pale vinegar

in a saucepan, boil the garlic, peppers and vinegar to a rolling boil. Fish out the garlic and peppers and divide among jars. Add a generous pinch of salt to the jars. Pour hot vinegar into each jar to the top.
If you have fresh dill in your garden, add a generous sprig in each jar. I like spicy garlic; if you don't, use the dill and leave that out. Don't leave out the salt, though.

Cover with lids and let cool on countertop. Store in the bottom of the refrigerator for about three weeks and then consume. They're great in a bloody mary, but I like to eat them all alone. And I've seen them chopped on BBQ Pork Nachos at Lee Roy Selmon's in Tampa. Two words: YUM YUM.